J. Daniel Howard

Howard's first posting as a member of the United States Foreign Service was in Japan, where he was a language trainee in Yokohama 1974–1975, and then served as director of the American Center in Sapporo from 1975 to 1977.

In 1986, President of the United States Ronald Reagan named Howard a Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the White House where he worked directly for National Security Advisor Frank Carlucci and his deputy, General Colin Powell.

Howard focussed on arms control issues and remained through the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in January 1988.

Howard's time as Under Secretary was dominated by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent catastrophic drop in the defense budget, the 1991 Gulf War and the post-war Tailhook scandal.

Howard immediately ordered a Navy and Marine Corps-wide "standdown" for training designed to prevent sexual harassment.

[1] It was widely speculated that O'Keefe would have Howard (and the Navy IG) resign at the same time that Judge Advocate General Rear Admiral John E. Gordon and NIS Director Rear Admiral Duvall M. Williams, Jr. were ousted for their attempts to turn the Tailhook investigation into a whitewash, but, in a move that drew surprise, O'Keefe announced that he continued to have "complete confidence" in Under Secretary Howard saying that he was much more "sinned against than sinned.

Howard retired from the Foreign Service in June, 1993 with the rank of Minister-Counselor and received the Meritorious Honor Award for career achievements.